The North Carolina Tar Heels are hoping to carry some momentum from last weekend's big win in Ireland over TCU when they head into Week 2. After beating the Horned Frogs, UNC is 1-0, and this very important second year under Bill Belichick is off to a good start.
For UNC, their schedule will get a little tougher here within the next month, but it's something to build on. However, not everything is going great in Chapel Hill as general manager Michael Lombardi resigned on Thursday and then a WRAL report suggests the Tar Heels are still under investigation as a program. That has left a sour taste in everyone's mouth despite the win.
And now, the national media is pouring it on.
While appearing on ESPN's "First Take" on Friday, Kevin Clark was asked
about the Belichick era so far in Chapel Hill and if they regret hiring him. Clark believes things are going to get worse and it will end "sooner than later."
"Yes, and part of it, there's so much that goes into it but part of it is that the ceiling is 8 wins, 9 wins for Bill Belichick in college football. They simply don't have the resources; they don't want to put the resources towards building a playoff team."
"But when I look at this UNC situation, first of all, it's not even their dominant program. Basketball always will be. If they were, maybe embarrassed themselves in basketball, but they were winning, there's more margin for error there. This is UNC football. It's always going to be on the back burner, so what this has done — this era, the last two years — has brought embarrassment to the university.
"The Michael Lombardi saga has brought more embarrassment to it. Now we have the Steve Belichick investigation. It's not going to work from a football perspective, and it hasn't worked from an on-field perspective. It's fine to beat TCU, but the fact that this is some validation to win a sloppy game in Ireland against a mediocre TCU [team], that shows me how low the standards have become. Yes, they should regret hiring Bill Belichick, and yes, I think it will end sooner rather than later."
Clark has some fair points. But with Michael Lombardi now gone, it feels like Belichick will have sole control over this roster. This is a very tough schedule that includes Notre Dame, Miami, Clemson, and Duke will be tough to overcome and the Tar Heels may need to pull off some upsets to help cool off the hot seat.
With the Steven Belichick issues as well, things could really go downhill in a hurry. But the best thing for Belichick to do is to win and win now.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: College football analyst believes Bill Belichick era is ending soon
